Scripture: Hebrews 11:8 BSB
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.
I have become fairly dependent on the little blue line. I used to get out the atlas and spend hours pouring over the maps to find the best path to our destination. Now, I can leave for someplace I’ve never been, have no idea how to reach it, and feel completely comfortable because my phone has promised to tell me every turn before I need it. If the blue line disappears, as happens when you get outside of cell service and the screen just says “map loading”, it doesn’t take me long to realize how much confidence I had put into the little glowing box.
Abraham did not get the blue line. Or even a destination. If he tried to use Google maps chart his course, he’d get the “Google Maps Can’t find “Go to the land I will show you.”
Hebrews says God called him, and Abraham “obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.” That sentence is a pretty good description of biblical faith. Abraham receives enough information to obey, but not enough information to control, or even know the journey.
We often want those reversed. We would like God to explain where this is going, how long it will take, what it will cost, what other people will do, whether it will work, and preferably where the rest areas and world’s largest ball of twine are along the route. Then we will decide whether obedience seems reasonable.
But throughout Hebrews 11, faith goes before people have control over the outcome. Abraham goes. Moses keeps going when Pharaoh gets angrier. People obey God when the next chapter has not been handed to them yet.
That was one of the central convictions from Sunday: faith is trusting Jesus enough to follow Him even when we cannot control what happens next.
So today, my challenge is to think about one thing you already know Jesus is asking of you. Maybe you need to forgive somebody. Tell the truth. Wait. Give. Apologize. Stop retaliating. Have a conversation you have been avoiding. You might have to go without an ETA.
You probably don’t need it.
You just need enough light for the next faithful step.